Oh where oh where, has my little dog gone?
by CulinaryChef
Summary: Poem-fic. Kotaro pulls a prank on Ayaka, she yells at him, he runs away. It was fun to write this fic. Slight spoilers for Ayaka's past. I hope my Kotaro isn't out of character. Enjoy!


_Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone? Oh where, oh where can he be?_

_With his ears cut short and his tail cut long, Oh where, oh where can he be?_

"Hey, Natsumi?"

"Yeah, Chizu-nee?"

"Have you seen Kotaro anywhere?"

"Now that you mention it, no. I haven't seen him since this morning."

_Perhaps I shouldn't have scolded him when_

_He chewed a hole in my shoe._

_But I had to teach my dog right from wrong._

_What else was I going to do?_

"That's it!" Ayaka bellowed. "Why would you even _think _of tearing that ugly hole in my shoes?"

"It was just a joke!" Kotaro retorted.

"Well it wasn't funny! Those shoes were brand new! They were a gift!"

"Sorry you can't handle a little fun in your life!" he shot back.

Ayaka's eyes glazed with rage. "Well sorry that you're in _my_ life! Get out!"

That, Kotaro wasn't expecting.

_His feelings must have been terribly hurt_

_His heart was filled with dismay_

_So he packed his bowl and his favorite toy_

_And then my dog ran away_

Hurt clear in his eyes, he tore out of the apartment and down the street without so much as a look back.

_He took a bus that was headed for town_

_A tourist, he thought he'd be_

_Be he never got past the rushing crowds_

_And not one sight did he see_

"Maybe I'll go back to Kyoto and actually see the sights there," he mused to himself, hands in pockets. The last time he was there, of course, he was under strict orders from Fate, so he had no time to just explore on his own itinerary. But he figured that it wouldn't be as fun to travel alone. He was finding that recently, he didn't like doing many things alone anymore. He was just too used to being surrounded by his crazy new friends.

"_I think I'll go to the mountains," he said_

"_And climb to my heart's content."_

_But he lost his grip on the icy slope_

_Back down the mountain he went._

Mountains were fun. He enjoyed training in the mountains with Kaede. But as he scaled the slopes today, however…

"Ow!" he hit the ground with a thud and frowned at his scratched hands. "Must be losin' my touch or somethin'."

_So next he thought he would surf the sea_

_He'd never tried it before_

_But a giant wave knocked him off his feet_

_And threw him back to the shore_

A good swim never hurt, he figured. So he threw off his shirt and dove into the ocean. All seemed right with the world for a few moments, until out of nowhere a huge wave came barreling on top of him, sending him flying back on to sand.

"St-stupid ocean!" he cursed as he coughed up seawater. "And I thought dogs _liked _swimming. Hmph. Some dog _I _am... Or human for that matter." He sighed in dismay. "Oh well, time to try somethin' new."

"_I'd rather hike in the desert," he said_

"_It's warm and peaceful out there."_

_But he tripped and fell on a rattlesnake_

_It gave them both quite a scare _("No it didn't!")

He just didn't have his guard up.

"_A cowboy's life is exciting," he'd heard_

"_A rodeo could be fun"_

_But the horse he rode pitched him in the dirt_

_My dog was glad to be done_

"Whoever heard of a cow_dog _anyway," he scorned as he shuffled his aching feet out of the arena.

"_I'm tired," he said. "I'll go sleep in a cave._

_How snug and cozy I'll be."_

_But he didn't know that a big brown bear_

_Would come keep him company._

He wasn't in the mood for bears. Or company. That wasn't Chizuru and Natsumi.

_By now was doggie was hungry and weak_

_The sun was setting so low_

_He longed to eat and he longed to sleep_

_But had no place he could go_

He fell to his knees. "D-damnit, I wanna go home! I wanna see Natsumi, and I wanna see Chizu-nee, and hell, I even wanna see that stupid Ayaka!" Hot tears fell on clenched fists.

_And then he thought of his warm, loving home_

_The place he most wished to be_

"Guess it's not all bad," he reasoned, drying his eyes on his sleeve. "Chizu-nee makes a mean dinn-" As if on cue, his stomach let out a loud growl. "Heh. I _did _skip lunch today." The hanyou gazed up at the setting sun. "They're prob'ly all worried anyway." He nodded, closing his eyes and smirking ever so slightly. "Yeah. Home sounds nice right about now."

_With a wagging tail and a joyful heart_

_He ran right back home to me_

Chizuru opened the door to see a small dark puppy, dirty and shaking and evidently very tired.

"Oh Kotaro, you're home!" She threw her arms around him and sank to her knees in relief. "We missed you so much!"

A small dog tongue slowly licked her cheeks.

She held him tighter. "I was… so worried about you!"

_Poof! _There lay the boy, having been too tired to maintain the dog form. "I came home," he assured in the most quiet and innocent tone in which she had ever heard him speak. "My home." He wrapped his arms around her neck and rested his head on her shoulder. "Sorry I worried ya."

_What great adventures my little dog had_

_While roaming so far away_

"So you went swimming and mountain climbing _and _horseback riding?" inquired Chizuru.

Kotaro looked up from stuffing his face with food. "Mhm!" He swallowed. "Not exactly the best ideas."

"Sounds like quite the adventure. Kota-kun, don't eat so fast, silly! You'll get sick." She giggled. "You act like you haven't eaten in days, you poor thing."

The hanyou gazed up at the ceiling and then back at his guardian. "It sure feels like it."

_Though he learned a lot and is wiser now,_

"Oh… so her brother never…"

Chizuru shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. Ayaka doesn't like to talk about it. It's why she gets so defensive sometimes. But it's part of who she is. You just have to be patient with her."

"Yes, Chizu-nee." Kotaro didn't have all that much respect for Ayaka, but after learning this, he felt she deserved a little.

"I know she can seem like a lot to handle, but you get used to her. And I promise I'll talk to her in the morning, ok?"

He nodded. "Thank you."

"But that didn't give her the right to yell at you. And it certainly didn't give you the right to destroy her shoes," she gently scolded. "You've been a bad boy and we'll talk about this in the morning. Still…" She pulled him close to her. "Never run away again! Poor little Kota-kun must have been so tired and hungry!"

"Ch-Chizu-nee, I can't breathe." She had him in too tight a grip. Again…

_I think he's come home to stay!_

The minute Kotaro hit the couch, he was out cold.

Chizuru smiled. "Glad to have you home." She draped a blanket over him and kissed the top of his head. "Home to stay."

**Lyrics from "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?" by Iza Trapani**

**I ship KotaNat but I love writing Kotaro and Chizuru-central fics. 3**

**My hope for Ayaka is that as she lives with Kotaro longer and longer, she comes to tolerate him just a little bit more. (And maybe the other way around, but with Kota-kun's stubborn head, who knows?)**


End file.
